Politics & Economics

Czech Incoming President Says No ‘Cap’ on Kyiv Weapons Shipments

The Czech Republic’s incoming president said the only limit to weapons deliveries to Ukraine should be nuclear arms, and he expressed confidence that Ukrainian forces can defeat Russia. Petr Pavel, a retired NATO general who takes office in March, also said President Vladimir Putin’s government isn’t the only one to possess nuclear weapons. “I believe that we shouldn’t put any cap on equipment,” Pavel told Bloomberg Television in an interview in Prague Friday. “The only exception is nuclear weapons and direct involvement of NATO in the conflict.” Pavel secured a convincing victory over billionaire former Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Saturday after a campaign that pledged to return the Czech Republic’s highest office to the European mainstream. Pavel has vocally denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for more arms deliveries to Kyiv. “Ukraine can defeat Russia on Ukrainian soil,” Pavel said. “That means to push Russian forces out of Ukraine and restore full territorial integrity and full sovereignty of Ukraine.” The incoming president also warned that NATO members’ possession of nuclear weapons should act as a deterrent to any Russian considerations of atomic arms. “We have nuclear capability as well,” Pavel said. “We don’t want to use it at...

by Prague Morning Feb 03, 2023

Pavel to BBC: Ukraine Deserves to Join NATO As Soon As War Ends

“Ukraine deserves to join NATO as soon as Russia’s war on the country ends,” said the newly elected Czech President Petr Pavel to BBC. The retired NATO general added that Ukraine should be “morally and practically ready” to join the alliance once the conflict is over. “Ukraine deserves to be part of the community of democratic countries,” Pavel said in his first interview with the foreign press. Regarding Western military support to Ukraine, Pavel said that there ought to be almost no limits on what countries could send to the Kyiv government. “We have no alternative,” said the president-elect. “If they lose – we all lose,” added Pavel, who said the handover of fighter jets was not taboo. But he fears the delivery of the warplanes could be too slow. “I am proud of my country being one of the first to provide Ukraine with significant military help,” he told the BBC. The Czech Republic was the first Western country to send tanks and infantry fighting vehicles – Soviet-designed T72s and BMP1s – to Kyiv, part of a series of deliveries of heavy weapons that reportedly began as early as March 2022. “Peace depends entirely on Russia and we would...

by Prague Morning Feb 01, 2023

Czech Economy Slips into Technical Recession

The Czech economy contracted further in the fourth quarter, the statistics office said on Tuesday, pushing the central European country into a technical recession for the first time since 2020 as high inflation hit households at the end of the year. With other central European economies fighting off recession risks, the Czech data on Tuesday was the first in the region to show two quarterly contractions in a row. Czech gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, following a 0.2% drop in the third quarter, but was better than a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.6% fall. It was the first drop in consecutive quarters since the coronavirus pandemic hit in the first half of 2020. On a year-on-year basis, the economy rose 0.4%, also better than expected, but slowing from a 1.5% increase in the previous quarter. Banka Creditas chief economist Petr Dufek said the fourth-quarter figure was decent given the fall in purchasing power. “Weakening domestic demand was compensated by better foreign trade and investments,” he said, adding the economy is expected to remain weak at the start of 2023. For the full year, the Czech economy rose 2.5%, which follows Poland on Monday reporting a 4.9%...

by Prague Morning Jan 31, 2023

Future First Lady Wants to Focus on Gender Equality and Support Single Parents

The Czech Republic is a country that is unfortunately still rife with gender inequalities. The new first lady, Eva Pavlova seeks to correct this issue, claiming that she wants to help single mothers and discrimination against women in society. Indeed, statistics make it clear that this is an ongoing issue, within the Czech Republic, only 28.4% of women hold managerial positions compared to the 34.7% EU average. Similarly, women in the Czech Republic earn 16.4% less than their male counterparts compared to the 13% EU average and a far cry from the 0.7% gender pay gap in Luxembourg. Furthermore, this is even though women in the Czech Republic are generally better educated than men, with almost 30% of women possessing tertiary education compared to 23.6% of men. It’s also clear that outside of the system societal discrimination against women in the workforce, there is also an issue regarding single-parent families. According to SocialWatch, 87% single-parent households are made up of single mothers. Therefore, single-parenthood is predominantly an issue that affects women, although single fathers also face similar issues. These issues most notably that single parents are 2.8 times more likely to be threatened by poverty even if employed. Moreover, they...

by Prague Morning Jan 31, 2023

China Contacts Prague Over Czech President-Elect Speaking to Taiwan President

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday it was in touch with Prague over President-elect Petr Pavel’s call with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen. Pavel spoke with Tsai on Monday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei that is likely to anger China. The two leaders stressed their countries’ shared values of freedom, democracy and human rights during their 15-minute call, their offices said, and Pavel said he hoped to meet Tsai in the future. China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as a province and most countries’ leaders avoid high-level public interactions with Taiwan and its president, not wishing to provoke China, the world’s second-largest economy. In Beijing’s first response to what could become a full-blown diplomatic row with Prague, the Chinese foreign ministry said Pavel had previously said during his election campaign that the One-China Principle should be respected. “The Chinese side…is currently seeking verification with the Czech side, (we) hope the Czech side strictly upholds the One-China Principle,” the foreign ministry said. Beijing views Taiwan as being part of “one China” and demands other countries recognise its sovereignty claims, which Taiwan’s democratically-elected government rejects. The Czech Republic, like most...

by Prague Morning Jan 30, 2023

New Czech President Expected to Foster EU, Ukraine Ties

The newly-elected Czech president, Petr Pavel said he would be a president for all citizens and would work hard to deliver on his promises. The future president, who will be sworn in on March 9, will be meeting with political leaders in the coming days as he prepares to take office. Pavel’s experience in military diplomacy would be a clear asset as he held a very different presidency than his predecessor. “We know that his contacts at NATO, as well as with peers from NATO member states… are very strong, and foreign policy will be his domain,” said Pavel Havlicek, a scientist at the Association for International Affairs in Prague. “I think he will be a proficient president if we realise the war in Ukraine is one of the key problems Europe is facing,” added Havlicek. He also called for more aid to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February last year. “He is very much in favour of Ukraine, he has repeatedly voiced his support, and he’s very critical towards Russia,” said Jiri Pehe, a political analyst at New York University Prague. “His stance will entail strong support to Ukraine without any conditions,” Pehe said. Pavel had already...

by Prague Morning Jan 29, 2023

Petr Pavel Will be the New Czech President

Retired army general, Petr Pavel, has been elected the next president of the Czech Republic. Mr. Pavel won the runoff against former prime minister Andrej Babiš, by the biggest margin ever in the history of Czech presidential elections. With over to 90 percent of the votes counted Petr Pavel got over 57 percent of the vote, his contestant received 42.9 percent. The retired NATO general said on Friday, as he cast his vote, that he wanted to be “a dignified president” for the country. Pavel and Andrej Babiš, a former prime minister, advanced to a second round of voting because none of the eight initial candidates received an absolute majority in the first round two weeks ago. The polls had favored Pavel, an independent candidate who came a narrow first in the opening round. Three other candidates pledged their support for Pavel ahead of the voting that started Friday. Pavel, 61, a former chairman of NATO’s military committee, is a political newcomer. He has fully endorsed the country’s military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. In the first round of the presidential elections, Pavel and Babiš received 35.4 and 34.99 percent of the vote respectively. Miloš...

by Prague Morning Jan 28, 2023

Czechs Choosing New President in Second Round of Election

Czechs will go to the polls on Friday to elect a successor to President Miloš Zeman, whose second term in office ends on March 8. The second-round runoff between former Prime Minister Andrej Babis and retired Nato general Petr Pavel is portrayed as a contest between populist oligarchy and liberal democracy. In the Czech Republic, the role of president is a mostly ceremonial but still highly influential post. The polls favour Pavel, an independent candidate who came a narrow first in the first round with 35.40 per cent. Babis followed at 34.99 per cent. Three other candidates have pledged their support for Pavel ahead of the two-day ballot. The winner will succeed controversy-courting Milos Zeman whose second and final term expires in March. Czechs assessed Zeman’s ten year performance in the country’s top post with an average of 4 on a five-point scale, the equivalent of a “D” in the Western school grading system, according to the results of a survey conducted by NMS Market Research. He was the first president elected by popular vote. Lawmakers elected the previous two presidents, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus. Pavel’s platform includes keeping the Czech Republic strongly anchored in the European Union and...

by Prague Morning Jan 27, 2023

Petr Pavel: Who is the New President of Czechia

Retired army general, Petr Pavel, has been elected the next president of Czechia. Pavel won the runoff against former prime minister Andrej Babiš, by the biggest margin ever in the history of Czech presidential elections. With close to 90 percent of the votes counted Petr Pavel got over 57 percent of the vote, his contestant received 42.9 percent. When mortar fire exploded around him in a 1990s peace mission in the Balkans, Petr Pavel showed the calm, cool nature that would later endear him to voters in the campaign for the Czech presidency. Czech presidents do not carry much day-to-day executive power but have a say in foreign policy, appoint prime ministers and central bank leaders, and are powerful opinion makers. The peace mission in Croatia was an early indicator of the determination that took Pavel from enlisting in a Warsaw Pact army to a high position in NATO. In January 1993, his unit evacuated a group of French soldiers trapped in fighting, a mission which earned him the French Military Cross. “We got into several tense situations and he always managed them with deliberation and calm,” retired Czech general Ales Opata, who served in Croatia and after with Pavel,...

by Prague Morning Jan 24, 2023

Babiš Statement Questioning Country’s Assistance to NATO Allies Causes Uproar

Czech presidential candidate Andrej Babis caused an uproar when he questioned his country’s possible assistance to its closest NATO allies in a live broadcast debate on Sunday, ahead of the country’s second round of presidential elections. The moderator of the debate broadcast by Czech Television asked Babis whether he would send Czech troops into an open conflict if Russia attacked Poland or the Baltic countries. “Of course not. I think we need to talk about peace,” Babis, a former prime minister, replied. The Czech president is the official commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, and the country is a member of NATO. Babis’ statement was immediately criticized by top Czech politicians, including Vice Prime Minister Marian Jurecka. “I apologize to all the citizens of Poland and other allies; the commitment that comes from our membership of NATO is and will remain in place, despite what Andrej Babis said today in the debate,” Jurecka wrote on Twitter. After the debate, Babis tried to correct his words. “In the Czech TV duel, I did not want to answer a hypothetical question about invading Poland or the Baltics. I am convinced that it won’t happen, and I don’t want to admit it at...

by Prague Morning Jan 23, 2023

Petr Pavel Leading Polls in the Upcoming Presidential Run-Off Vote

Retired general Petr Pavel held a 15 percentage point lead over billionaire ex-premier Andrej Babiš heading into the January 27-28 Czech presidential run-off vote, a Czech Television poll showed on Sunday. The two are squaring off in a second round vote starting next Friday after Pavel narrowly won over Babiš in the first round of the election last weekend, although neither scored a majority of votes. The poll showed Pavel leading with 53 percent compared to 38 percent for Babiš with 9 percent undecided. The expected turnout could hit 84 percent in the poll next weekend, the highest ever in a Czech presidential vote, the survey found. “Let’s hold on, let’s not get discouraged, let’s spread what they can’t: decency, humility and hope,” Petr Pavel wrote on social media adding a photo of the poll results. Both Pavel, a former general who held a senior NATO military job, and combative opposition leader Babiš, who served as prime minister from 2017-2021, would likely be more pro-Western than retiring incumbent Miloš Zeman. Pavel, 61, is strongly pro-Western and supports further military aid for Ukraine as well as the adoption of the euro. Nejnovější průzkum potvrdil dvě věci: 1. Cesta k vítězství světa...

by Prague Morning Jan 22, 2023

Ukraine Needs More Money Than We Expected, Says Czech Minister

The EU sent Ukraine the first €3 billion from the €18 billion loan package, but some EU member states already see that this amount will not be sufficient, admitted Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS, ECR) on Tuesday. The €18 billion aid package for Ukraine was approved in December 2022 after tough negotiations. According to the regulation approved, the EU can provide Ukraine with a monthly financial loan. However, the agreed amount will probably not be enough, Stanjura said. “When you see today and every day the brutal attacks by the Russian army, the more and more damage they are doing to Ukraine’s infrastructure, but also to residential areas, I assume that the need for this money will be even higher than we thought in November or December,” Stanjura said after Tuesday’s meeting between EU finance ministers. For the Czech government, support for Ukraine is a top priority. The Czech Republic negotiated the aid package for Ukraine during its Council of the EU Presidency in the second half of 2022. The only country actively blocking the support was Hungary. For the EU to be able to afford assistance to Ukraine, it was necessary to borrow the money and provide guarantees....

by Prague Morning Jan 18, 2023

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